Chapter 64: Slaying the Upper Ranks
[Talent anchor abnormal. Re-anchoring in progress…]
[Anchoring…]
Kaito Shirogane had forgotten himself. He had cast aside everything. His face seemed to stretch and distort from his sheer speed, and his outstretched right hand, wreathed in surging ripples of Hamon, seemed to truly transform into a great, golden spear.
In that moment, Kokushibo understood what his opponent had done.
This man… he had also opened the [Transparent World]!
Faced with this devastating attack, Kokushibo knew that if Muzan died, all demons who existed because of him would also perish. He could not retreat.
The rhythm of his breathing changed. Kyokokukamikiri, the demon blade that was one with his body, instantly sprouted a complex web of smaller blades. The flame-like mark on his left cheek seemed to come alive, glowing even more brightly in the fire and blood.
[Moon Breathing, Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon - Incessant]
The hand holding the sword seemed to disappear. In a single instant, he unleashed countless vertical slashes, the sword light tearing the air apart. This was not an attack meant to kill, but a defensive wall of blades, meant to force Kaito back.
But Kaito, his body now emitting a white steam, paid it no mind. His [Sage Art - Great Devil Lance] smashed directly into the storm of sword strikes.
As two masters who had both opened the [Transparent World], they knew that any feint was meaningless. They both knew that the other's attack… was real!
Kokushibo's pupils contracted. The next moment, he felt as if the very air of the entire space had been thrown at him like a massive shockwave.
BOOM!
The wall of sword strikes shattered. Several crescent-moon-shaped slashes shot out in all directions. Kaito's right hand, glowing with golden ripples, blew through the defense and slammed into Kyokokukamikiri. The demon blade, unable to resist for even a second, instantly shattered under the power of the sun.
In that instant, a flicker of astonishment appeared in Kokushibo's mind, and then the great golden spear pierced through his body.
SPLAT!
At the same time, Kaito felt the bones and flesh of his own right hand shatter, inch by inch, from his fingertips upward. The surrounding sword wind sliced off great chunks of his flesh. The immense force of his own attack was too much for his arm to bear.
CRUNCH!
Kokushibo was obliterated in mid-air by the [Sage Art - Great Devil Lance]. And along with him, Kaito's right arm was also blown to pieces.
A fountain of blood erupted, painting Kaito's face crimson. He couldn't tell if it was his own blood or Kokushibo's. He didn't seem to notice. His left hand, also formed into a blade, swung in a violent horizontal arc. The Hamon flowing from it had weakened considerably due to the destruction of the blood vessels in his right arm.
If [Hamon] had a major weakness, it was the need for a constant breathing rhythm and the fact that massive blood loss would render it unusable. This was its fatal flaw. The ninja's smoke bomb with its irritant had, by sheer luck, effectively stalled him. Douma's Blood Demon Art was also a direct counter.
However, Kaito was a completely different breed from Muzan Kibutsuji. He was a "madman" who was more than willing to put his own life on the gambling table. He knew Douma could counter him, but he was also supremely confident that his own [Hamon] was an even stronger, absolute counter to Douma. He firmly believed he could kill Douma before being incapacitated.
The golden ripples from his hand-blade were like waves spreading through the air. In mid-air, the still-spinning Douma only had time to raise his hands. His great [Bodhisattva of the Sleeping Water Lily] had just begun to form a head when the hand-blade sliced through his body.
Kaito's left hand was now also dripping with blood, but Douma's head had been cleanly sliced in two. Kaito's momentum didn't stop. He continued his attack, slashing at Muzan, who was still desperately trying to absorb Nakime into his body.
Squelch!
It was the smooth feeling of a hot knife cutting through butter. The golden ripples of Hamon were the ultimate counter to a demon's flesh. Muzan watched as his own defenses, which an ordinary Hashira could never break, were torn apart by a single hand-swipe. His courage completely abandoned him. In that instant, he felt a fear even greater than the one he had felt hundreds of years ago when he had faced Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
Half of Muzan's body, along with the half-absorbed Nakime, was sliced away. And, whether intentionally or not, Kaito had severed the part that was absorbing her. Nakime instantly began to dissolve.
"GRAAAAH!"
Muzan howled in agony, and his body instantly exploded.
POP!
Countless chunks of flesh shot out in all directions.
At that moment, the shattered remains of Kokushibo's body finally hit the ground. His head, which was still conscious, roared for the first time. "Muzan! Kill him!"
"His hands are useless! That breathing technique of his is failing!"
"KILL HIM!"
The light in Kokushibo's three remaining eyes was fading. His life was inevitably coming to an end. But even at this moment, his instincts as a swordsman, honed by the [Transparent World], allowed him to see Kaito's condition.
The rain of Muzan's flesh fell silently, offering no response.
Kaito walked over to Kokushibo's head and squatted down, picking it up.
"Kokushibo. For a man with so many eyes, you were still blind to Muzan Kibutsuji's true nature."
"Weak, cowardly, false, incompetent, and spiteful…"
"A creature like that is just the scum of the earth. How could he possibly dare to fight me to the death? Heh…"
The light in Kokushibo's eyes gradually dimmed. Finally, with a self-deprecating smile, he died.
[You have killed Upper Rank One, Kokushibo. You have gained 1800 Dimensional Points.]
[Advancement Quest: Enemy's Flesh, My Strength updated. Detected Kokushibo's strength rating: Mortal-tier, Upper. Do you wish to complete the quest with this kill?]
[You have killed Upper Rank Two, Douma. You have gained 1600 Dimensional Points.]
[Advancement Quest: Enemy's Flesh, My Strength updated. Detected Douma's strength rating: Mortal-tier, Middle. Do you wish to complete the quest with this kill?]
"Yes."
Kaito stood up. The scorching white steam that had been rising from his body finally began to dissipate. The sound of running footsteps echoed from outside as Yanagi came charging in, sword in hand, with the Professor and Elizabeth right behind him.
When the three of them saw Kaito, they all froze. In the white steam, he looked like a demonic Asura. His muscles were swollen, his height now over two meters, his physique explosively powerful. Both of his hands were completely covered in blood, and there was hardly a spot on his body that was uninjured. As his [Hamon] failed due to his ruptured blood vessels and damaged lungs, his wounds could no longer be suppressed.
But even in this state, which should have looked pathetic, Kaito stood there, holding the heads of this world's [Upper Rank One, Kokushibo] and [Upper Rank Two, Douma]. The sight was absolutely terrifying.
This guy… he single-handedly fought Muzan and a host of Upper Ranks, and in the end, he actually killed the top two?!
For a moment, even Yanagi unconsciously averted his gaze, unable to meet Kaito's eyes. He had a feeling that in this state, Kaito was perhaps even more dangerous than when he was uninjured. That feeling of just meeting his gaze, of the hair on the back of his neck standing on end… he had only ever felt it once before, as a boy, when he had gotten lost deep in the mountains of the northeast and had come face to face with a Siberian tiger.
It was a horrifying, primal sense of oppression, the feeling of a creature on a lower rung of the food chain facing an apex predator.
"Cough. What about Muzan Kibutsuji? Did he get away?" Yanagi asked, breaking the silence. "I'll find him!"
He leaped down into the ruined basement, searching for any trace of Muzan. Elizabeth also averted her eyes and jumped down into the crater, activating some kind of optical device to search. All she found was a pile of shredded flesh.
Finally, beneath that pile, they found a long, thin tunnel, like a rat hole. It seemed that some extremely small part of him had dug a hole and escaped.
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Guys We cross the 1100 power stone goal and as promise here the bonus chapter
Next goal 1200 power stone,come on guys you'll can do it, good luck.
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